SAVAGE 
Unildrian  Cdicchism 


hX 

9821 
.S3 
1905 


"WSBf- 


BX  9821  .S3  1905 

Savage,  Minot  J.  1841-1918 

Unitarian  catechism 


m 


Unitarian  Catechisjn 


M.  J.  SAVAGE 


^VITH   AN   INTRODUCTION   BY   E.  A.  HORTON 


REVISED  EDITION 


The  zcoriJ  is  saved  by  the  breath  of  the  school-children  " 

Talmud 


BOSTON 

Press  of  Geo.  II.  Ellis,  272  Congress  Street 

1905 


Copyright,  1890, 


GEO.    H.    ELLIS, 


INTRODUCTIOX. 


The  preface  by  Mr.  Savage  gives  the  reasons,  clearly  and 
concisely,  why  a  book  like  this  is  needed.  It  answers  a 
great  demand,  and  it  will  supply  a  serious  deficiency. 
Having  had  the  privilege  of  reading  the  contents  very 
thoroughly,  I  gladly  record  my  satisfaction  in  the  character 
of  the  work,  my  hope  of  its  wide  acceptance  and  use,  my 
appreciation  of  the  author's  motives  in  preparing  it.  The 
questions  and  answers  allow  of  supplementing,  of  individual 
handling,  of  personal  direction.  It  is  not  a  hard-and-fast 
production.  There  is  a  large  liberty  of  detail,  explanation 
and  unfolding.  The  doctrinal  positions  are  in  accord  with 
rational  religion  and  liberal  Christianity,  the  critical  judg- 
ments are  based  on  modern  scholarship,  and  the  great  aim 
throughout  is  to  assist  an  inquirer  or  pupil  to  a  positive, 
permanent  faith.  If  any  one  finds  comments  and  criticisms 
which  at  first  sight  seem  needless,  let  it  be  remembered 
that  a  Unitarian  catechism  must  give  reasons,  point  out 
errors,  and  trace  causes :  it  cannot  simply  dogmatize.  I 
am  sure  that  in  the  true  use  of  this  book  great  gains  will 
come  to  our  Sunday-schools,  to  searchers  after  truth,  to  our 
cause. 

Edward  A.  Hokton. 


AUTHOR'S    PREFACE. 


This  little  Catechism  has  grown  out  of  the  needs  of  my 
own  work.  Fathers  and  mothers  have  said  to  me,  "  Our 
children  are  constantly  asking  us  questions  that  we  cannot 
answer."  Perfectly  natural !  Their  reading  and  study  have 
not  been  such  as  to  make  them  familiar  with  the  results 
of  critical  scholarship.  The  great  modern  revolution  of 
thought  is  bewildering.  This  is  an  attempt  to  make  the 
path  of  ascertained  truth  a  little  plainer. 

This  is  the  call  for  help  in  the  home.  Besides  this,  a 
similar  call  has  come  from  the  Sunday-school.  Multitudes 
of  teachers  have  little  time  to  consult  libraries  and  study 
large  works.  This  is  an  attempt,  then,  to  help  them,  by 
putting  in  their  hands,  in  brief  compass,  the  principal  things 
believed  by  Unitarians  concerning  the  greatest  subjects. 

The  list  of  reference  books  that  follows  the  questions  and 
answers  wall  enable  those  who  wish  to  do  so  to  go  more 
deeply  into  the  topics  suggested. 

It  is  believed  that  this  Catechism  will  be  found  adapted 
to  any  grade  of  scholars  above  the  infant  class,  provided  the 
teacher  has  some  skill  in  the  matter  of  interpretation. 


CONTENTS. 


Pagb 

I.     Religion, ....-.-■  9 

II.     God. .     ,     .  14 

III.     Man,       -o 

IV.     Bible, -S 

V.     Jesus, 33 

VI.     Evil  AND  Devil 43 

VII.    Salvation, • 47 

VIII.    Church,     . 5^ 

IX.    Duty, 57 

X.     Death  and  After, 61 


Appendix. 
Books  of  Reference, 65 


RELIGION. 

1.  Question.  How  old  is  religion  ? 
Answer.  As  old  as  man. 

2.  Q.  What  is  religion  ? 

A.  It  is  man's  effort  to  get  into  right  relations  with 
God. 

3.  Q.  Analyze  and  define  religion. 

A.  Man    feels    himself    surrounded    by    mysterious 
forces,  so 

(i)  He  thinks  out  some  idea  or  theory  of  these 
forces  and  of  himself  as  related  to  them. 

(2)  He  has  certain  feelings  and  emotions  in  accord 
with  his  thoughts,  such  as  awe,  fear,  reverence,  love. 

(3)  His  thoughts  and  feelings  tend  to  embody  or 
incarnate  themselves,  to  find  some  outward  expres- 
sion; so  there  are  altars,  temples,  sacrifices,  script- 
ures, prayers,  hymns,  etc.  The  nature  of  these 
always  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  thoughts  and 
feelings.  Man  tries  to  do  what  he  thinks  his  God 
wants  him  to  do ;  that  is,  such  things  as  will  put  him 
into  favorable  relations  with  his  God.  So  we  see, 
(as  is  said  in  answer  2),  that  religion  is  man's  effort 
to  get  into  right  relations  with  God. 

4.  Q.  Why  have  there  been  so  many  religions  .'* 

A.  Because  men  have  had  so  many  ways  of  thinking 


lO 

about  and   interpreting  the  world  and    its    mysterious 
forces. 

5.  Q.  Have  all  the  religions  except  Christianity- 
been  false  ? 

A.  No  :  none  of  them  have  been  wholly  false. 

6.  Q.  Is  Christianity  all  true  ? 

A.  No.  Though  the  best  and  highest  of  all  relig- 
ions, it  is  as  yet  imperfect. 

7.  Q.  What  would  be  a  perfect  religion? 

A.  One  perfectly  true  in  its  teachings  and  perfectly 
lived  out  in  action. 

8.  Q.  When  can  we  hope  for  such  a  religion  ? 

A.  Only  when  men  become  perfectly  wise  and  good. 

9.  Q.  How  can  all  the  religions  of  the  world  be 
divided  .? 

A.  Into   two   classes,  polytheistic  and  monotheistic. 

10.  Q.  What  do  these  terms  mean  .'* 

A.  A  polytheist  (from  two  Greek  words,  ttoAv?  and 
^eos)  is  one  who  believes  in  many  gods.  A  monotheist 
(also  from  two  Greek  words,  /xwo?  and  ^eo?)  is  one  who 
believes  in  only  one  God. 

11.  Q.  Are  there  any  monotheistic  religions  except 
Christianity .? 

A.  Yes :  two,  the  Jewish  and  the  Mohammedan. 

12.  Q.  Why  have  men  believed  there  were  many 
gods  ? 

A.  Because  they  have  thought  the  sun,  the  lightning, 
and  a  hundred  other  natural  forces  were  separate  and 
superhuman  powers.  They  have  also  deified  dead 
heroes   and   ancestors. 


13.  Q.  Why  have  they  had  such  ideas  ? 

A.  Because  they  had  not  yet  learned  that  all  forces 
are  manifestations  of  one  power. 

14.  Q.  Why  are  we  monotheists  ? 

A,  Because  we  have  learned  the  unity  of  things ; 
that  there  is  only  one  force,  one  law,  in  the  universe. 

15.  Q.  Can  man  help  being  religious? 

A.  In  one  sense,  yes  :  he  can  disbelieve  in  or  be 
opposed  to  religion.  Still,  he  cannot  escape  the  fact 
that  he  is  essentially  a  religious  being. 

16.  Q.  What  do  we  mean  by  this.' 

A.  We  have  seen  (in  answer  3)  that  man  is  and  must 
be  in  some  way  related  to  God,  whether  he  is  conscious 
of  it  or  not. 

17.  Q.  Is  religion  important,  then? 

A.  It  is  the  most  important  of  all  things. 

18.  Q.  Why? 

A.  Because  on  a  knowledge  of  the  power  mani- 
fested in  the  world  about  us,  and  on  our  being  in  right 
relations  to  it,  depend  all  life,  health,  prosperity,  and 
happiness. 

19.  Q.  Does  it  make  any  difference  what  religion  a 
man  believes  in  ? 

A.  It  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world. 

20.  Q.  Why? 

A.  Because  all  practice  first  or  last  depends  on  the- 
ory. If  one  has  wrong  thoughts  and  feelings,  his  ac- 
tion, which  springs  from  these,  cannot  be  right. 

21.  Q.  What  if  his  action  be  not  right  ? 

A.  Then  he  must  fail  of  the  hisfhest  well-beino:  and 


12 

happiness.  If,  for  instance,  a  man  is  to  sail  over  thte 
sea,  a  false  theory  of  navigation  may  lead  him  to  miss 
his  harbor.     So  in  all  the  work  of  life. 

2  2.  Q,  What  are  the  most  important  things  in  relig- 
ion .? 

A.  Right  thoughts  about  God  and  man,  and  right 
feelings. 

23.  Q.  Why.? 

A.  Because  these  will  lead  to  right  action ;  that  is, 
to  right  relations  with  God. 

24.  Q.  Are  religious  ceremonies  and  institutions  im- 
portant .? 

A.  They  are ;  but  they  are  the  product  of  religion, 
and  not  its  cause.  They  need,  then,  to  be  rightly  un- 
derstood and  used. 

25.  Q.  Are  they  ever  an  evil .? 

A.  Yes,  when  they  stand  in  tne  way  of  growth  or  in 
place  of  the  real  religious  life. 

26.  Q.  Give  an  example. 

A.  Religious  ceremonies  are  of  value  only  as  they 
help  on  religious  life  and  growth.  If,  now,  a  person 
should  allow  himself  to  be  unkind  or  dishonest,  and 
ihink  to  make  up  for  it  by  church  attendance  or 
prayers  or  Bible  study,  these  good  things  might  to  him 
become  an  evil. 

27.  Q.  What  religious  ceremonies  or  institutions, 
[hen,  are  good  ? 

A.  Any  that  truly  express  or  help  on  the  real  relig- 
ious life. 

28.  Q.  What  is  the  essence  of  true  rePgion  for  us 
lo-dav  ? 


13 

A.  Love  for  God  and  man. 

29.  Q.  Why? 

A.  Because,  if  these  exist,  they  will  find  fitting  cere- 
monies, create  institutions,  and  deliver  the  world  from 
evil. 

30.  Q.  If  one  is  truly  religious,  what  will  be  its  effect 
on  his  life  ? 

A.  In  politics,  in  society,  in  his  home,  and  every- 
where, he  will  try  to  do  what  is  for  the  happiness  and 
good  of  all. 


II. 

GOD. 

1.  Q.  Have  men  always  believed  in  God  1 

A.  Not  in  the  sense  in  which  we  believe  to-day  ;  but 
they  have  always  believed  in  the  existence  of  certain 
invisible  or  spiritual  powers. 

2.  Q.  What  objects  have,  they  worshipped  as  gods  .'' 
A.  First  or  last,  almost  everything, —  the  sun,  moon, 

stars,  rivers,  trees,  different  kinds  of  animals,  etc. 

3.  Q.  Have  they  really  thought  that  these  things 
were  gods.-* 

A.  Perhaps  the  ignorant  have,  but  the  more  intelli- 
gent have  looked  upon  them  as  the  symbols  or  abiding 
places  of  the  deity. 

4.  Q.  Has  there  been  an  element  of  truth  in   this  "i 
A.     Yes;  for  to-day  we   believe  that  all  things  are 

partial  manifestations  of  the  one  infinite  spirit  and  life. 

5.  Q.  Did  all  ancient  peoples  believe  alike  in  this 
respect  ? 

A.  No  :  different  families  and  tribes  have  had  sepa- 
rate beliefs  and  different  gods. 

6.  Q.  Did  they  believe  these  gods  to  be  friendly  to 
each  other  1 

A.  No  :  the  gods  hated  each  other  as  bitterly  as  did 
the  people  themselves. 


15 

7-   Q.  Did  they  believe  all  these  gods  to  be  good  ? 
A.  No :  they  were  as  different  in  their  tempers  and 
characters  as  were  the  people  who  worshipped  them. 

8.  Q.  What  did  these  people  think  the  gods  were 
doing  ? 

A.  Not  knowing  anything  about  the  order  of  nature, 
they  attributed  everything  that  happened  to  the  agency 
of  some  one  of  these  deities.  All  the  good  things 
were  supposed  to  be  caused  by  the  good  gods ;  while 
all  the  evil  were  the  work  of  bad  spirits,  or  of  the  good 
spirits  when  they  were  angry. 

9.  Q.  Did  the  people  worship  only  the  good  gods .? 
A.  No  :  they  worshipped  the  evil  deities  from  fear, 

offering  sacrifices  in  an  attempt  to  buy  off  their  enmity. 

10.  Q  What  was  the  origin  of  their  belief  in  these 
bad  gods  ? 

A.  It  was  their  way  of  explaining  the  existence  of 
suffering,  disease,  and  death. 

11.  Q.  Does  this  explain  the  origin  of  all  the  evil 
deities  ? 

A.  No.  When  one  nation  conquered  another,  the 
gods  of  that  nation  also  were  supposed  to  be  conquered ; 
but,  hating  their  conquerors,  they  would  constantly  try 
to  do  them  harm,  and  so  came  to  be  looked  upon  as 
evil  spirits. 

12.  Q.  Did  they  at  that  time  believe  in  any  ruler  of 
all  the  evil  spirits,  or  the  devil,  in  the  modern  sense  of 
that  word  .? 

A.  No  :  that  idea  was  much  later  in  its  origin. 

13.  Q.  How  did  the  belief  in  one  God  arise  1 

A.  At  first,  people  came  to  believe  that  they  must 


i6 

worship  only  one  God,  though  they  did  not  doubt  the 
existence  of  other  gods.  Then  they  came  to  believe 
that  theirs  was  the  only  real  God. 

14.  Q.  Who  were  the  first,  as  a  people,  to  believe 
in  only  one  God  ? 

A.  The  Hebrews,  a  few  hundred  years  before  Christ. 

15.  Q.  Did  they  have  the  same  idea  of  the  one  God 
that  we  have  to-day  .? 

A.  No  :  it  was  far  less  spiritual  and  grand. 

16.  Q.  Where  did  they  suppose  this  one  God  dwelt  ? 
A.  In  heaven,  which  they  supposed  to  be  just  above 

the  sky. 

17.  Q.  What  did  they  think  of  this  sky.? 

A.  The  Old  Testament  speaks  of  it  as  a  solid  dome 
or  firmament,  just  above  which  was  heaven,  where  God 
was  enthroned,  surrounded  by  his  angelic  court. 

18.  Q.  Did  they  think  that  God  was  a  visible  being, 
then .? 

A.  Yes  ;  and  that  sometimes  he  had  appeared  to 
men  on  earth. 

19.  Q.  Where  did  they  believe  he  was  to  be  wor- 
shipped ? 

A.  Chiefly  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  in  which 
place  they  believed  was  the  special  manifestation  of 
his  presence. 

20.  Q.  What  did  Jesus  teach  in  regard  to  this  .? 

A.  He  taught  that  God  was  spirit,  and  could  be 
found  anywhere  by  those  who  worshipped  him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth. 

21.  Q.  What  have  men  thought  about  God  since  the 
time  of  Tesus  ? 


17 

A.  Generally,  they  have  thought  of  him  under  the 
figure  of  a  man,  and  as  enthroned  in  some  special 
place. 

2  2.    Q.  Can  we  think  of  him  in  this  way  now  ? 

A.  No :  since  we  have  found  out  the  nature  of  the 
universe,  we  can  no  longer  think  of  God  as  wearing  a 
bodily  form. 

23.  Q.  Where  is  he,  then  ^. 
A.  He  is  everywhere. 

24.  Q.  How,  then,  can  we  think  of  him  ? 

A.  As  the  life,  the  spirit,  the  soul,  of  the  universe. 

25.  Q.  Is  not  this  pantheism  ? 

A,  No.  Pantheism  teaches  that  all  things  are  God  • 
this  teaches  that  God  is  in  and  through,  and  so  the 
life  of,  all  things. 

26.  Q.  Can  this  be  illustrated  in  any  way  to  make 
it  plainer } 

A.  Yes :  as  an  illustration,  we  may  think  of  God  as 
related  to  the  universe  in  a  similar  way  to  that  in 
which  our  souls  are  related  to  our  bodies. 

27.  Q.  Where  is  the  soul  in  the  body.^ 
A.  It  is  everywhere. 

28.  Q.  Shall  we  ever  see  God  1 

A.  Only  as  we  see  him  now,  as  manifested  in  the 
life  of  the  universe. 

29.  Q.  Is  this  really  seeing  him  at  all  1 

A.  Yes :  we  see  him  just  as  truly  as  we  see  a  friend, 
Xo  one  ever  saw  the  soul :  we  only  see  the  manifesta- 
tion of  its  activity  through  the  body.  In  the  same 
way  precisely  we  see  the  manifestation  of  God  through 
the  outer  world. 


i8 

io.   Q.  Is  God  personal  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  we  speak  oi 
a'/ian  as  personal. 

31.  Q.  Why? 

A.  Because  we  connect  with  man's  personality  the 
thoughts  of  a  beginning  and  an  end,  and  of  an  outlined 
physical  being. 

32.  Q.  In  what  does  personality  consist  t 

A.  Essentially  in  self-consciousness,  and  in  this, 
which  is  the  highest  sense,  we  believe  that  God  is 
personal. 

-^T^.   Q.  May  we  think  of  God  as  our  Father  ? 
A.  We  may.     We,  as  finite  spirits,  are  children  of 
the  Infinite  Spirit. 

34.  Q.  Is  he  near  to  us  1 

A.  Nearer  than  the  breath  we  breathe ;  for  "  in  him 
we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being." 

35.  Q.  Will  he  help  us? 

A.  He  does  help  us  alwa3^s.  Since  all  the  forces  or 
the  world  are  his  activity,  all  we  do  is  by  the  use  of  his 
power. 

36.  Q.  Is  there  any  idolatry  still  in  Christendom  ? 
A,  Yes;  for  an  image  of  God  may  be  in  the  mind  as 

well  as  made  out  of  stone  or  wood. 

37.  Q.  Can  we  have  a  perfect  thought  of  God  ? 

A.  No  ;  for  the  finite  cannot  grasp  the  infinite.  We 
must  think  as  truly  and  nobly  as  we  can. 

38.  Q.  Where  are  God's  laws  to  be  found? 
A.  They  are  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  lifCo 


19 

39-   Q'  Are  they  in  any  one  book  or  Church  ? 
A.  No;  and  many  so-called  laws  of  God  are  only 
the  imaginations  of  man. 

40.   Q.  What,  then,  are  his  laws  ? 

4.  The  real  laws  of  life,  of  goodness,  and  of  truth/ 


III. 

MAN. 

1.  Q.  How  long  has  the  earth  existed  ? 
A.  Probably  millions  of  years. 

2.  Q.  Has  it  always  been  inhabited.'* 

A.  No  :  it  was  a  very  long  time  before  it  became 
cool  enough  for  living  forms. 

3.  Q.  Did  man  appear  at  first  ? 

A.  No :  the  lowest  forms  of  life  appeared  first  in  the 
waters. 

4.  Q.  What  next  ? 

A.  Next  came  the  fishes,  then  the  reptiles,  then  tho 
birds,  and  then  the  different  kinds  of  animals. 

5.  Q.  How  long  ago  did  man  appear  .? 

A.  We  cannot  tell  exactly.  The  best  authorities 
think  it  was  as  much  as  150,000  years  ago,  and  perhaps 
300,000. 

6.  Q.  Was  he  specially  created  at  that  time  ? 

A.  No  :  he  grew  or  was  developed  from  lower  forms. 

7.  Q.  Was  he  perfect  when  he  first  appeared? 
A.  No  :  He  was  but  little  above  the  animals. 

8.  Q.  How  much  has  he  grown  and  changed  since 
then .? 

A.  So  much  that  the  highest  man  of  to-day  is  more 
unlike  the  first  m?.n  than  he  was  unlike  tbe  highest 
animal 


21 

9-   Q.  Do  we,  then,  believe  in  "the  fall  of  man"? 
A.  No ;  for  he  was  never  so  high  as  to-day.     It  is 
the  ascent  of  man  that  we  believe  in. 

10.  Q.  What,  then,  is  the  difference  between  the 
animals  and  man  ? 

A.  The  differences  are  of  two  sorts,  difference  in 
degree  and  difference  in  kind. 

11.  Q.  What  do  we  mean  by  difference  in  degree .? 
A.  Both  are  animals;  but  man  is  a  higher  kind   of 

animal. 

12.  Q.  Explain  how. 

A.  In  the  first  place,  as  to  his  body.  He  stands 
erect,  and  has  hands  instead  of  having  four  feet.  Then 
he  has  a  much  larger  brain. 

13.  Q.  What  of  mental  differences? 

A.  Animals  think,  reason,  dream,  remember,  and 
in  many  ways  show  remarkable  powers  of  mind.  But 
men  are  much  superior  to  them  in  all  these  things. 

14.  Q.  What  is  meant  by  saying  they  are  different 
in  kind  ? 

A.  While  man  is  an  animal,  he  is  also  something 
more,  so  that  he  is  a  different  kind  of  being. 

15.  Q.  Explain  this. 

A.  A  dog  or  a  horse  is  conscious,  but  he  is  not  self- 
conscious.  That  is,  he  does  not  think  "  I."  He 
never  thinks,  "I  am  a  horse  or  a  dog,  and  so  I  am 
different  from  other  kinds  of  animals." 

16.  Q.     Explain  still  further. 

A.  While  animals  may  fear  or  love  a  master  and 
even  show  shame  when  they  have  displeased  him,  there 
is    no    reason    to   think   they   have   a   moral    nature. 


Neither  do    they  possess    a    religious  nature  to  make 
them  think  of  and  try  to  find  God  as  man  does. 

17.  Q.  Is  there  any  other  great  difference? 

A.  Yes  :  man  has  an  ideal  of  a  better  condition,  of 
a  higher  kind  of  life,  and  so  is  capable  of  progress. 
Animals  do  not  have  this. 

18.  Q.  What  other  great  difference  is  there.? 

A.  Man  has  the  power  of  speech.  And  he  can 
write  down  and  preserve  his  thoughts  and  all  he  has 
learned  and  done.  So  knowledge  is  kept  and  handed 
on  from  age  to  age. 

19.  Q.  Was  speech  an  invention  ? 

A.  It  was  partly  an  invention  and  partly  a  growth. 

20.  Q.  What  was  the  condition  of  the  first  men  ? 

A.  They  were  naked  barbarians  in  the  woods. 
They  lived  on  berries,  nuts,  fruits,  and  such  animals 
and  fishes  as  they  could  capture, 

21.  Q.  Tell  something  more  about  them. 

A.  They  had  no  houses,  no  fire,  no  weapons  or 
tools. 

2  2.    Q,   How  did  they  progress  out  of  this  condition .? 

A.  They  discovered  fire,  and  then  they  gradually 
learned  how  to  make  themselves  huts,  boats,  weapons, 
and  tools.  When  they  found  the  metals,  and  learned 
how  to  smelt  copper  and  iron,  they  made  very  rapid 
advances. 

23.  Q.  Are  there  any  specimens  of  the  primitive 
men  alive  now  ? 

A.  No  ;  for  the  lowest  savages  are  very  much  above 
the  condition  of  the  first  men. 


23 

24-  Q.  Who  were  the  first  peoples  to  become  what 
we  call  civilized  ? 

A.  The  oldest  civilizations  that  we  know  of  were  in 
Eg}'pt  and  Babylonia.  But  there  are  remains  of  civili- 
zations, perhaps  as  old,  in  Southern  Arabia,  Central 
America,  and  in  Mexico. 

25.  Q.  Of  what  kind  were  the  oldest  societies  ? 

A.  They  were  tribes  of  people  supposed  to  be  bound 
together  by  ties  of  kinship. 

26.  Q.  When  did  any  people  first  become  organized 
on  a  territorial  basis  ? 

A.  The  ancient  Athenians,  under  Cleisthenes,  about 
500  years  before  Christ. 

27.  Q.  How  did  the  ancient  peoples  write .? 

A.  They  had  what  is  called  picture-writing,  or  hiero- 
glyphs. 

28.  Q.  Who  first  used  an  alphabet  ? 
A.  The  Phoenicians. 

29.  Q.  What  has  helped  the  modern  world  to  ad- 
vance so  much  more  rapidly  than  the  ancient  ? 

A.  Discoveries  such  as  the  mariner's  compass,  the 
art  of  printing,  gunpowder,  the  steam-engine,  the 
telegraph,   etc. 

30.  Q.  What  other  advances  has  man  made  .? 

A.  In  mental  and  moral  growth  he  has  kept  pace 
with  his  physical  discoveries. 

31.  Q.  Has  he  reached  the  end  ? 

A.  No  :  he  is  only  beginning  to  get  control  of  him 
self  and  of  the  forces  of  the  earth. 

32.  Q.  What  may  we  hope  for,  then,  in  the  future  ? 


24 

A.  A  condition  of  things  in  which  hunger  and  dis- 
ease, vice  and  crime,  shall  have  been  outgrown  and 
left  behind. 

2,Z'   Q-  How  is  this  to  be  reached  ? 
A.  By  finding  out  the  laws  of  God  and  learning  to 
obey  them. 

34.  Q.  What,  then,  is  our  highest  duty? 

A.  To  do  what  little  we  can  to  bring  about  this  con- 
dition of  things. 

35.  Q.  Is  man  made  in  the  image  of  God.'' 

A.  Yes ;  for,  if  not,  he  could  neither  know  nor  love 
nor  serve  him. 

36.  Q.  What  do  we  mean  by  his  being  in  God's 
image  ? 

A.  He  is  God's  child,  and  so  like  him  mentally  and 
morally  as  well  as  spiritually. 

37.  Q.  What,  then,  ought  to  be  his  life  ? 

A.  It  ought  to  be  god-like,  growing  ever  truer  and 
nobler. 

;^S.    Q.  Is  such  a  life  natural  to  man .'' 
A.  It  is  the  only  life  that  is  natural,  and  so  true  to 
man's  best  possibilities. 


IV. 
BIBLE. 

1.  Q.  What  is  the  Bible? 

A.  It  is  the  name  given  to  the  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  when  spoken  of  as  a  whole. 

2.  Q.  Where  does  the  word    "Bible"  come  from? 
A.  The  Greek.     The  books  were  first  spoken  of  as 

Ta/Sc^Xia,  the  books,  and  then  as   rb  ^i^XiW.  the  book. 

3.  Q.  What  are  these  books  ? 

A.  They  comprise  the  most  important  parts  of  the 
religious  writings  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  early  Chris- 
tians. 

4.  Q.  Why  are  they  all  together  in  one  volume  ? 

A.  For  convenience,  and  because  they  have  been 
supposed  together  to  make  up  one  revelation. 

5.  Q.  How  do  they  happen  to  be  divided  into  chap- 
ters and  verses  ? 

A.  This  is  the  work  of  publishers,  and  is  only  for 
convenience   of  reference. 

6.  Q.  Where  did  the  running  titles  and  chapter  head- 
ings come  from  ? 

A.  These  are  the  work  of  English  editors,  and  are 
of  no  authority. 

7.  Q.  Where  did  our  ordinary  English  Bible  come 
from  ? 

A.  It  was  translated  into  English,  under  King 
James,  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 


26 

8.  Q.  Out  of  what  languages  was  it  translated  ? 

A.  The  New  Testament  out  of  Greek  and  the  Old 
Testament  out  of  Hebrew,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
passages,  which  were  Aramaic. 

9.  Q.  Did  the  translators  have  the  original  books 
just  as  they  were  first  written  ? 

A.  No  :  only  copies  made  hundreds  of  years  after- 
w^ards. 

ID.  Q.  How  were  these  copies  made  ? 

A.  They  were  written  by  hand, —  the  New  Testa- 
ment by  the  old  monks  in  monasteries,  and  the  Old 
by  Jewish  Scribes. 

11.  Q.  How  do  we  know  they  were  correct  copies.? 
A.  We  know  that  they  were  not. 

12.  Q.  What  changes  had  been  made  } 

A.  The  copyists  had  made  a  great  many  changes  in 
transcribing. 

13.  Q.  How  important  are  these  changes  ? 

A.  Generally,  they  are  slight.  But,  in  some  cases, 
they  amount  to  whole  verses  or  parts  of  chapters. 

14.  Q.  Were  any  of  these  changes  made  on  purpose } 
A.  There  is  good  reason  to  think  that  some  of  them 

were. 

15.  Q.  Give  an  illustration. 

A.   I  John  v.  7  and  Matt.  xvi.  18. 

16.  Q.  Are  we  sure,  then,  of  the  verbal  accuracy  of 
the  Bible .? 

A.  No :  we  are  not. 

17.  Q.  Do  these  changes  make  us  doubtful  of  its 
main  teachings  .? 

A.  No ;  for  we  now  know  very  nearly  what  the 
changes  have  been. 


27 

i8.   Q.  How  many  books  are  there  in  the  Bible  ? 
A.  66  :  39    in    the    Old   Testament    and    27    in  the 

New. 

19.  Q.  Are  the  books  in  the  same  order  in  the  Eng- 
lish Bible  that  they  were  in  the  Hebrew  ? 

A.  No  :  the  order  has  been  changed. 

20.  Q.  Is  the  order,  in  either  of  them,  the  order  in 
which  they  were  written,  or  of  the  events  related  ? 

A.  No  :  it  is  not. 

21.  Q.  How  did  the  Jews  divide  the  books.'* 

A.  Into  three  groups, —  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and 
the  Writings. 

22.  Q.  What  did  these  include  > 

A.  The  Law  included  the  Pentateuch;  the  Prophets, 
the  books  we  know  now  by  that  name,  together  with 
Joshua  and  Judges  ;  and  the  Writings,  all  the  rest. 

23.  Q.  What  do  we  know  about  the  authorship  of 
these  books .'' 

A.  Very  little.  As  to  most  of  them,  we  do  not  know 
who  wrote  them,  nor  when,  nor  where  they  were  written. 

24.  Q.  How  old  are  they  .<* 

A.  A  few  fragments  date  back  to  perhaps  1300  B.C., 
but  the  oldest  complete  book    to  not  more  than  800 

B.C. 

25.  Q.  Of  what  date  is  that  part  of  the  Old  Testa- 
Dient  which  was  last  written  ? 

A.  Not  far  from  170  b.c. 

26.  Q.  How  did  the  Hebrews  regard  these  books  > 
A.  They  came  to  look  upon  them  as  an  inspired  and 

infallible  revelation  from  God. 


28 

27.  Q.  Were  these  books  the  only  Jewish  writings  ? 
A.  No  :  many  books  have  been  lost. 

28.  Q.  Are  there  any  others  that  have  been  kept? 
A.  Yes  :  there  are  fourteen  others,  which  are  called 

the  Apocrypha. 

29.  Q.  Why  are  those  not  in  the  Bible  ? 

A.  Because  the  Jewish  nation  was  scattered  before 
they  had  become  old  enough  to  be  regarded  as  sacred. 

30.  Q.  Have  they  ever  been  included  in  the  Bible  ? 
A.    Yes,    by   the    Catholics ;    and    they    are    often 

printed  between  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  our 
Protestant  Bibles. 

31.  Q.  Are  any  of  these  as  good  as  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  ? 

A.  Yes :  a  few  of  them  are  better  than  many  that 
are  included  in  the  Bible. 

32.  Q.  Are  there  any  other  old  Jewish  books  ? 

A.  Yes :  such  as  the  Book  of  Enoch,  which  is  quoted 
in  the  Epistle  of  Jude. 

^;^.  Q.  Name  some  as  good  as  those  in  the  Old 
Testament. 

A.  Ecclesiasticus  and  The  Wisdom  of  Solomon. 

34.  Q.  Of  what  is  the  New  Testament  composed? 

A.  Of  four  biographies  of  Jesus,  one  book  of  his- 
tory, twenty-one  letters,  and  one  vision,  called  the 
Apocalypse, —  twenty-seven  in  all. 

35.  Q.  When  were  these  written  ? 

A.  Probably  from  about  55  a.d.  to  170  a.d. 

2,6.   Q.  Are  they  arranged  in  chronological  order  ? 
A.  No 


37-   Q'  Which  are  oldest  ? 

A.  The  five  or  six  genuine  letters  of  Paul. 

38.  Q.  Who  wrote  the  rest  of  the  letters  ? 

A.  With  the  exception  of  James,  we  do  not  know\ 

39.  Q.  Were  the  Gospels  written  by  the  men  whose 
names  they  bear  ? 

A.  They  were  noto 

40.  Q.  Which  is  the  oldest  ? 
A.  Mark. 

41.  Q.  How  were  the  first  three  written  ? 

A.  Somewhere  near  the  year  70  or  80  a.d.  they 
were  written  out  from  notes,  memorabilia,  etc  Up 
to  that  time,  the  story  had  only  been  repeated  from 
memory. 

42.  Q.  How  could  it  be  remembered  so  long  ? 

A.  There  were  persons  called  catechists,  or  teachers, 
who  made  it  their  business  to  learn  and  repeat  the 
story. 

43.  Q.  Did  they  remember  it  with  perfect  accuracy } 
A.  No;  for  they  often  differ,  and  sometimes  contra- 
dict each  other. 

44.  Q.  Who  wrote  the  Fourth  Gospel  ? 

A.  Probably  a  presbyter  by  the  name  of  John. 

45.  Q.  Are  these  twent}'-seven  books  all  that  were 
written  ? 

A.  No  :  many  other  gospels,  letters,  and  visions  were 
written. 

46.  Q.  What  became  of  them  ? 

A.  Many  were  lost ;  and  many  are  still  kept,  and  are 
called  the  Apocryphal  New  Testament. 


30 

47-  Q-  Who  decided  what  books  should  make  up  the 
New  Testament  ? 

A.  The  general  opinion  and  consent  of  the  churches. 

48.  Q.  Are  there  any  among  those  left  out  as  good 
as  those  that  were  included  ? 

A.  Perhaps  one  or  two. 

49.  Q.  Name  one. 

A.  The  Shepherd  of  Hermas.  This  was  included  in 
the  New  Testament  at  one  time. 

50.  Q.  How  has  the  Church  in  general  regarded  the 
Bible  as  a  whole  ? 

A.  As  being  an  inspired  and  infallible  revelation 
from  God. 

51.  Q.  Can  we  so  regard  it  to-day  ? 

A.  No  ;  for  it  contains  errors,  and  we  know  God 
could  not  make  mistakes. 

52.  Q.  What  kind  of  mistakes  are  there? 

A.  In  some  places,  it  teaches  what  now  we  know  to 
be  immoral.  It  also  makes  mistakes  in  history  and  in 
science.     It  also  contradicts  itself  in  many  places. 

53-    Q-  What  do  we  mean  by  mistakes  in  science.? 
A.  Mistakes  in  astronomy,  geology,  etc. 

54.  Q.  Give  an  example. 

A.  The  Jews  thought  the  earth  was  fiat,  and  that 
the  sky  was  a  solid  dome;  also,  that  the  sun  and  stars 
were  made  only  to  give  us  light. 

55.  Q.  Give  another  example. 
A.  The  creation  story. 

56.  Q.  What,  then,  is  the  Bible.? 

A.  It  is  a  record  of  the  religious  life  and  teachings 


31 

of   the   ancient    Hebrews  and  of   the  early  Christian 
Churches. 

57.  Q.  How  does  it  compare  with  the  religious 
books  of  other  peoples  ? 

A.  It  is  the  grandest  one  of  them  all. 

58.  Q.  Does  it  contain  God's  word  ? 

A.  Yes;  but  only  in  part  and  mixed  with  many 
errors. 

59.  Q.  What  is  God's  perfect  word  ? 
A.  All  truth. 

60.  Q.  Is  revelation  finished  ? 

A.  No  :  every  new  truth  is  a  new  revelation. 

6t.    Q.  Does  God  speak  to  the  world  now  ? 
A.  Yes:  to   all    who    listen    and    try   to  understand 
him. 

62.  Q.  If  the  Bible  is  not  perfect,  why  should  we 
study  it  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  the  literature  and  art  of  the 
world  are  full  of  it.  We  need  to  be  familiar  with  it  so 
as  to  understand  them. 

63.  Q.  Why  else  ? 

A.  Because  it  teaches  us  how  religion  grows  and 
what  men  have  felt  and  thought  about  it  in  the  past. 

64.  Q.  Is  there  any  other  reason  ? 

A.  Yes :  righdy  used,  it  will  help  our  personal  relig- 
ious lives  more  than  any  other  one  book. 

65.  Q.  How  should  we  study  it  ? 

A.  With  our  eyes  open  to  its  real  nature. 

66.  Q.  What  is  its  real  nature? 

A.  It  is  a  human  book.     In  some  parts,  its  teaching 


32 

is  barbarous  and  cruel,  being  the  work  of  a  barbarous 
age.  It  is  full  of  magic  and  miracle.  Most  of  its 
writers  knew  little  of  God's  real  way  of  governing  the 
world. 

67.  Q.  Wherein,  then,  is  its  great  value  ? 

A.  It  shows  the  growth  of  religious  ideas  from  bar- 
barism up  to  the  sweet  spiritual  teaching  of  Jesus. 

68.  Q.  What   are    the   most   valuable   parts  of   the 
Bible  ? 

A.  Those  that  tell  us  of  the  life  and  teachings  of 
Jesus. 

69.  Q.  How  do  they  help  us  ? 

A.  By  showing  us  that  a  life  like  his  is  possible,  and 
by  winning  us  to  love  it. 


JESUS. 

1.  Q.  In  what  year  was  Jesus  born? 
A.  About  the  year  5  or  4  b.c. 

2.  (2-  How  could  the  Christ  be  born  before  Christ? 
A.  The  date  was  not  fixed  at  the  time,  and  many 

years  later  this  mistake  was  made. 

3.  Q.  What  time  in  the  year  was  he  born  ? 
A.  We  do  not  know. 

4.  Q.  Was  he  not  born  on  Christmas  Day  ? 

A.  No  :  this  date  was  not  fixed  until  four  or  five 
hundred  years  after  Jesus  was  born, 

5.  Q.  Why  was  this  date  chosen  for  celebrating  his 
birth  ? 

A.  Because  it  was  already  a  popular  festival  day. 

6.  Q.  What  kind  of  day  was  it  ? 

A.  Much  like  our  present  Christmas.  It  was  the 
birthday  of  the  Sun-god,  and  so  of  the  year. 

7.  Q.  What  did  people  do  on  that  day? 

A.  They  exchanged  gifts,  and  made  it  a  day  of 
human  equality  and  good-will.  Slaves  were  feasted 
and  waited  on  by  their  masters. 

8.  Q.  Where  was  Jesus  born  ? 

A.  Probably  in  Nazareih,  a  small  hill-town  in  Galilee. 


34 

9-  Q.  Why  do  Matthew  and  Luke,  then,  say  he  was 
born  in  Bethlehem  ? 

A.  These  stories  about  his  birth  are  very  late  and 
of  no  authority.  The  Jews  expected  their  Messiah  to 
be  born  in  Bethlehem ;  so,  after  people  came  to  be- 
lieve that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  this  belief  grew  up. 

10.  Q.  Who  were  his  parents  ? 
A.  Joseph  and  Mary. 

11.  Q.  What  kind  of  persons  were  they? 

A.  Simple  peasant  people.  His  father  was  a  car- 
penter. 

12.  Q.  Had  he  brothers  or  sisters.? 

A.  Yes :  he  was  one  of  a  large  family. 

13-    Q-  What  do  we  know  of  his  childhood  1 
A.  Almost  nothing,  except  as  we  may  find  out  what 
a  Jewish  childhood  was  in  those  days. 

14.  Q.  What  did  a  Jewish  child  learn.? 

A.  He  learned  in  the  synagogue  to  recite  the  wise 
sayings  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  Fathers. 

15.  Q,  What  language  did  he  speak  ? 
A.  Aramaic. 

16.  Q.  Did  he  learn  any  science  or  philosophy .? 

A.  No  :  his  people  at  that  time  had  no  knowledge 
of  science,  and  did  not  think  of  the  world  as  under 
natural  law. 

17.  Q.  Do  his  biographers  tell  us  nothing  about  his 
childhood  ? 

A.  There  is  just  one  story  in  Luke.  This  tells  us 
how  his  parents  took  him  to  Jerusalem  to  the  temple 
when  he  was  twelve  years  old. 


35 

1 8.  Q.  Why  did  they  take  him  there  then  ? 

A.  It  was  a  Jewish  custom, —  a  little  like  confirma- 
tion in  some  modern  churches. 

19.  Q.  How  does  he  appear  in  this  story? 

A.  As  a  precocious  child,  but  loving  and  obedient. 

20.  Q.  What  does  Luke  say  of  him  on  his  return 
home  ? 

A.  He  "increased  in  wisdom  and  in  stature,  and  in 
•^avor  with  God  and  man." 

21.  Q.  When  do  we  next  see  him  ? 

A.  At  about  the  age  of  thirty,  when  he  comes  to 
John  the  Baptist  to  be  baptized. 

22.  Q.  What  then  does  he  do  ? 

A.  After  John's  imprisonment,  he  begins  to  travel 
over  the  country  preaching,  and  announcing  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand. 

23.  Q.  What  was  meant  by  "  the  kingdom  of  God"  ? 
A.  The   Jews   had  come  to  believe    that   God  was 

going  to  set  up,  by  miracle    and   suddenly,  a  perfect 
condition  of  things  on  earth. 

24.  Q.  Did  Jesus  travel  alone.? 

A.  No:  he  chose  twelve  friends,  called  "apostles," 
some  of  whom  were  generally  with  him. 

25.  Q.  How  did  they  live  ? 

A.  They  were  entertained  by  friends  as  they  trav- 
elled over  the  country. 

26.  Q.  Was  this  a  strange  thing  to  do  ? 

A.  No  :  in  that  age,  country^  and  climate  it  was  sim- 
ple and  natural. 


36 

27-  0'  Can  we  follow  the  order  of  his  journeys  and 
teachings  ? 

A.  No  ;  for  the  stories  are  not  clear. 

28.  Q.  How  long  was  his  ministry  ? 

A.  Probably  only  a  little  over  a  year ;  though  John 
seems  to  make  it  three  and  a  half.  There  was  even  a 
later  tradition  that  said  he  lived  to  be  fifty  years  old. 

29.  Q.  Into  what  parts  may  his  public  life  be  di- 
vided 1 

A.  Into  two,  his  work  in  Galilee  and  in  Judea. 

30.  Q.  Where  did  he  preach  ? 

A.  On  the  lake-side,  from  a  boat,  on  hill-slopes,  or 
in  any  convenient  place. 

31.  Q.  How  did  he  preach  ? 

A.  In  a  simple,  conversational  way,  drawing  his  les- 
sons from  flowers,  leaven,  the  farmer's  work,  as  well  as 
from  Scripture. 

32.  Q.  Did  he  deliver  any  long  sermons? 

A.  Probably  not.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was 
not  all  spoken  at  any  one  time  or  place. 

2,2,'   Q'  How  else  did  he  teach  1 

A.  Often  in  parables ;  that  is,  by  telling  stories  with 
a  lesson  that  people  would  remember. 

34.  Q.  How  was  he  received  ? 

A.  The  people  were  glad  to  hear  him. 

35.  Q.  How  did  he  differ  from  common  teachers  . 
A,  They  were    generally    dry    and    formal    in    their 

methods. 

36.  Q.  What  did  they  teach  ? 

A,  The  law  of  Moses  and  the  traditions. 


37 

37-    Q'  What  did  he  teach  ? 

A.  God's  love  and  human  duty. 

38.    Q.  Whom  did  he  choose  for  associates  ? 

A.  Generally  the  common  people. 

39-    <2-  What  was  his  disposition  ? 
A.  He  was  tender  and  loving,  always  ready  to  help 
and  comfort. 

40.  Q.  Was  he  ever  severe  ? 

A.  Only  towards   people  who  were  hard  and  proud 
and  who  looked  down  on  their  fellow-men. 

41.  Q.  Who  did  he  say  were  fit  for  the  kingdom  of 

God? 

A.  Those  who  left  off  their  wrong-doing,  and  were 
loving  and  helpful  like  himself. 

42.  Q.  Did  he  make  any  other  condition? 
A.  No  :  he  did  not. 

43-  Q'  Who  represented  the  state  religion  of  his 
time  ? 

A.  The  Priests,  the  Pharisees,  and  the  Scribes. 

44.  Q.  Did  they  like  him  ? 
A.  No. 

45.  Q,  Why? 

A.  Because  he  disregarded  their  rules  and  customs, 
saying,  if  people  were  only  loving  and  helpful,  it  did  not 
matter  about  these  other  things. 

46.  Q.  Why  did  this  trouble  them  ? 

A.  Because  they  believed  God  had  commanded 
them  to  keep  up  the  temple,  the  law,  and  all  their 
ceremonies ;  and  also  because,  if  he  had  his  way,  their 
business  and  importance  would  be  gone. 


38 

47-    <2-  What  did  they  do  about  it  ? 

A.  They  stirred  up  the  people  against  him,  and  made 
them  believe  he  was  an  enemy  of  God,  and  so  their 
enemy. 

48.  Q.  What  else  did  they  do  ? 

A.  They  made  the  Roman  authorities  who  then 
governed  the  country  believe  that  he  was  getting  up  a 
rebellion. 

49.  Q.  Had  there  been  rebellions  before  } 

A.  Yes,  many;  so  that  the  Romans  were  sensitive 
on  the  subject. 

50.  Q.  Was  there  any  ground  for  these  charges.^ 

A.  None,  except  that  he  preached  the  kingdom  of 
God.  But  they  saw  that  this  did  threaten  their  power 
over  the  people ;  and  they  made  the  Romans  suspi- 
cious. 

51.  Q.  When  did  they  mature  their  plans  .'' 

A.  At  the  great  annual  feast,  when  they  knew  Jesus 
would  be  in  Jerusalem. 

52.  Q.  How  did  they  carry  them  out } 

A.  They  hired  Judas,  one  of  his  apostles,  to  betray 
Jesus  into  their  hands. 

53.  Q.  What  then  did  they  do  ? 

A.  They  tried  him  before  the  Sanhedrin,  the  great 
Jewish  court. 

54.  O.  Did  they  prove  their  charges  .? 

A.  It  mattered  little  to  them  whether  they  did  or 
not.     They  were  determined  to  get  rid  of  him. 

55.  Q.  Could  they  put  him  to  death  .^ 

A.  No :  they  had  to  get  the  consent  of  Pilate,  the 
Roman  ruler. 


39 

56.  Q.  Did  Pilate  thinl<:  him  guilty  ? 

A.  Probably  not;  but  it  made  little  difference  to 
him,  so  that  he  satisfied  the  people. 

57.  Q.  What  then  did  they  do  with  Jesus? 

A.  They  put  a  crown  of  thorns  on  his  head,  a  purple 
robe  on  his  shoulders,  and  a  reed  in  his  hand,  because 
they  said  he  claimed  to  be  a  king;  for  crown,  robe,  and 
sceptre  were  symbols  of  royalty. 

58.  Q.  Did  he  claim  to  be  king  1 

A.  Only  by  a  figure  of  speech,  to  be  a  king  of  the 
truth. 

59.  Q.  What  next  1 

A.  They  crucified  him  on  a  little  hill  outside  the  city 
walls. 

60.  Q.  Where  was  he  buried .? 

A.  In  a  new  tomb,  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  in  a  garden 
belonging  to  Joseph  of  Arimathea. 

61.  Q.  Did  he  rise  again  from  the  dead  .^ 

A.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  his  body  lived  again. 

62.  Q.  Why  did  the  disciples,  then,  claim  that  they 
saw  him  after  his  death  ? 

A.   Perhaps  they  did  see  him  in  his  spiritual  body, 

63.  Q.  On  what  day  is  his  supposed  resurrection 
celebrated .? 

A.  On  Easter  Day. 

■  64.    Q.  Why  ? 

A.  Because,  like  Christmas,  this  had  been  long  cele- 
brated in  a  similar  way. 

65.  Q.  What  was  meant  by  this  day  before  it  be- 
came a  Christian  festival  ? 


40 

A.  It  was  celebrated  as  the  day  of  the  spring's  com 
ing  to  life  after  the  death  of  the  winter. 

66.  Q.  When  did  the  stories  of  the  miraculous  birth 
and  resurrection  of  Jesus  grow  up. 

A.  Long  after  his  death. 

67.  Q.  Did  Jesus  work  miracles  ? 

A.  Not  in  the  sense  of  disregarding  natural  laws. 

68.  Q.  Did  he  possess  any  wonderful  powers  ? 

A.  Probably  he  did,  especially  in  the  soothing  and 
cure  of  those  afflicted  with  nervous  diseases. 

69.  Q.  Have  others  had  similar  powers  ? 
A.  Yes  :  many  others. 

70.  Q.  How,  then,  did  these  stories  grow  up.? 

A.  As  in  the  case  of  Gautama  and  a  great  many 
others.  People  have  always  told  wonderful  stories  of 
the  wonderful  men  they  have  come  to  admire  and  wor- 
ship, 

71.  Q.  Have  stories  of  a  virgin  birth  and  miracu- 
lous powers  been  told  of  others  1 

A.  Yes :  of  many  others.  They  were  told  of  Gau- 
tama, of  Plato,  of  Cassar,  of  Apollonius,  and  also  of 
many  Catholic  saints. 

72.  (2-  Did  the  people  of  those  days  care  for  proof? 
A.  No  :    they  easily  believed  any  story  that  pleased 

them, 

73.  Q.  Why  ? 

A.  Because  they  had  not  yet  learned  of  the  ordei 
and  law  of  the  natural  world, 

74.  Q.  What  kind  of  man  was  Jesus  "i 

A.  He  was  the  great  radical  reformer  and  leader  of 
his  age. 


41 

75*    Q'  What  was  his  teaching? 

A.  He  taught  very  little  that  was  wholly  new,  but 
he  taught  with  such  simplicity  and  force  as  to  make  a 
great  impression. 

76.  (2-  What  is  his  rank  among  men  ? 

A.  He  is  the  greatest  religious  leader  of  the  world. 

77.  Q.  What  was  his  character  ? 

A.  He  was  so  full  of  the  spirit  and  love  of  God,  and 
he  so  loved  men,  that  he  seems  to  us  to  have  been 
very  nearly  perfect. 

78.  Q.  Did  he  establish  any  church.? 

A.  He  did  not.  If  correctly  reported,  he  expected 
to  return  soon  after  his  death,  and  with  the  angels  as 
escort  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

79.  (2-  Did  Jesus  teach  science  or  politics  or  help 
solve  great  social  questions  ? 

A.  No :  he  shared  the  belief  of  his  age  and  his 
people  concerning  all  such  matters. 

80.  Q.  What  was  that  t 

A.  That  at  "  the  end  of  the  age  "  God  would  sud- 
denly and  iiMraculously  establish  his  kingdom. 

81.  Q.  Did  he  help  the  world,  then,  to  settle  any 
great  intellectual  problem? 

A.  No :  his  greatness  was  that  of  character  and 
spiritual    insight. 

82.  Q.  Should  we  speak  of  him  as  Jesus,  or  Christ? 
A.  As  Jesus.     The   Christ,  or   the   Messiah,  is  the 

name  of  the  title  that  was  given  him,  not  his  personal 
name. 

^3-    (?•  What  is  Jesus  to  us  to-day  ? 

A.  Our  great  spiritual  inspiration  and  example. 


42 

84.  Q'  In  what  sense  is  he  our  Saviour  ? 

A.  As  he  helps  us  to  love  God  and  man,  and  so  to 
try  to  be  like  him. 

85.  Q.  Is  it  enough  to  know  the  right  way  ? 

A.  No  :  we  must  love  it,  so  as  to  be  willing  to  work 
or  even  die  for  it. 

86.  Q,  Why  does    Jesus   say   that  love  is  the  most 
important  of  all  things  ? 

A.  Because  love  is  the  great  motive  power  that  leads 
to  the  doing  of  all  great  and  good  things. 

87.  Q.  Shall  we  call  ourselves  Christians,  then .? 

A.  Yes :  if  we  mean  by  it  that  we  are  followers  of 
Jesus'  spirit  of  love  to  God  and  man. 


VI. 
EVIL    AND    DEVIL. 

1.  Q.  What  do  we  mean  by  evil  ? 
A.  All  wrong  and  suffering. 

2.  Q.  What  is  the  old  belief  about  these  ? 
A.  That  they  did  not  exist  at  first. 

3.  Q.   How  has  their  origin  been  explained  t 
A.  As  the  result  cf  the  fall  of  man. 

4.  Q.  What  is  the  story  t 

A.  That  man  was  made  perfect  and  placed    in  the 
Garden  of  Eden. 

5.  Q.  How  was  he  said  to  have  lost  it  ? 

A.  It  is  said  that  the  devil,  in  the  form  of  a  serpent, 
tempted  Eve. 

6.  Q.  Then  what  is  said  to  have  happened  ? 

A.  Adam  and  Eve  were  driven  out  of  the  garden. 
Then  people  began  to  suffer  and  die. 

7.  Q.  Who  was  this  devil  1 

A.  At  first,  they  said,  he  was    a   bright   archangel ; 
that  is,  an  angel-leader. 

8.  (2.  How  did  he  come  to  be  the  devil  t 

A.  It  was  said  he  rebelled  against  God  in  heaven, 
and  was  cast  down  to  hell. 

9.  Q.  Why  did  he  te;npt  Eve  ? 

A.  It  was  believed  he  did  it  to  spite  God  and  injure 
his  new-made  world. 


44 

10.  Q.  Did  the  Jews  at  first  believe  in  the  devil? 
A.  Not  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word. 

11.  Q.  When  did  they  begin  to  believe  in  him  ? 

A.  We  find  the  idea  fully  developed  after  the  cap- 
tivity and  their  contact  with  Babylonian  and  Persian 
thought.  The  Devil  first  appears  by  name  in  Wisdom 
of  Solomon,  about  200  B.C. 

12.  Q.  Why  did  they  accept  this  idea? 

A.  Because  they  came  to  think  the  good  God  could 
not  have  permitted  evil,  therefore  that  some  evil  being 
must  have  caused  it. 

13.  Q.  Is  this  a  satisfactory  explanation? 

A.  No  ;  for,  if  God  could  not  permit  evil,  he  would 
not  have  permitted  the  devil  to  exist. 

14.  Q.  Is  there  any  reason  for  believing  in  the 
existence  of  the  devil  ? 

A.  No,  none  whatever.  The  stories  about  him  do 
not  prove  his  existence  any  more  than  the  stories 
about  Hercules  prove  his. 

15.  Q.  What  have  people  believed  about  the  devil? 
A.  That  he  and  his  wicked  angels  were  everywhere, 

doing  all  sorts  of  mischief. 

16.  Q.  What  kinds  of  mischief  ? 

A.  Such  as  causing  sickness  and  storms. 

17.  Q.  Have  they  thought  that  people  could  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  devil  ? 

A.  Yes :  as  in  the  case  of  Faust,  and  the  witches. 
They  thought  men  and  women  could  make  bargains 
with  him,  and  that  sometimes  they  sold  their  souls  to 
him  for  wealth  or  power. 

iS.    Q.  Is  evil  a  thing  that  came  into  the  world? 
A.   No. 


45 

19-    (?.   What  is  it? 

A.  It  is  simply  the  result  of  not  knowing  and  keep- 
ing God's  laws. 

20.  Q.  How  long  has  it  existed  ? 
A.   Since  life  existed  on  earth. 

21.  Q.  What  is  pain  .? 

A.  A  feeling  we  do  not  like. 

22.  Q.  What  is  the  cause  of  it  ? 

A.  Any  creature  that  can  feel  at  all  must  be  liable 
to  feel  pain  as  well  as  pleasure.  And  pain  is  the 
result  of  a  broken  law  of  God. 

23.  Q.  If  people  were  perfect,  would  there  be  pain  ? 
A.  No;  or,  at  any  rate,   very  little.     If  they  knew 

all  God's  laws,  and  kept  them,  they  would  not  suffer. 

24.  Q.  Does  pain,  then,  prove  that  a  person  is 
wicked  ? 

A.  By  no  means.  For  we  may  break  God's  laws 
without  knowing  it,  or  other  people  may  put  us  in 
positions  where  we  have  to  suffer. 

25.  Q.  Is  death  an  evil  ? 

A.  No  :  a.  premature  or  cruel  death  may  be. 

26.  Q.  Was  death  caused  by  sin  ? 

A.  No  :  it  is  as  natural  to  die  as  to  be  born. 

27.  Q.  What  are  the  greatest  evils  of  the  world  ? 
A.  The  wrongs  men  do  to  one  another. 

2S.    Q.  Do  these  need  to  exist  ? 

A.  No  :  they  exist  because  people  are  ignorant,  pas- 
sionate, and  selfish. 

29.  Q.  Is  a  person  ever  better  off  for  injuring  an- 
other ? 


46 

A.    No  :    selfishness    is    always    foolish    as    well    as 
wrong. 

30.  Q.  What  is  selfishness  ? 

A.  Being  willing  to  get  something  we  wish  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  welfare  or  happiness  of  somebody  else. 

31.  Q.  Is  it  wrong  to  wish  for  all  good  things  ? 

A.  No  :    it   is  wrong  only  when  you  are  willing  to 
hurt  some  other  person  in  getting  them  ? 

32.  Q.  Is  it  God's  will  that  men  should  suffer? 
A.  No. 

3Z'    Q-  Why,  then,  does  he  not  prevent  it.? 
A.  We  can  learn  good  and  evil  only  by  experience ; 
therefore  God  must  permit  evil,  even  if  we  suffer. 

34.  Q.  Must  people  always  suffer.? 

A.  Only  until  they  learn  how  to  live  rightly. 

35.  Q.  Do  suffering  and  death,  then,  make  it  impossi- 
ble to  believe  in  the  goodness  of  God  ? 

A.  No  :  not  if  we  understand  them  and  their  use. 

36.  Q.  Are  they,  then,   any  sign  that  God  is  angry 
with  us .? 

A.  No  :  God  is  never  angry  with  anybody. 

37.  Q.  What,  then,  are  the  causes  of  all  evil .? 
A.  Ignorance,  passion,  and  folly. 

2,d>.    Q.  Do  we  need  any  devil,  then,  to  explain  them.? 
A.  No. 

39.    Q.  God,  then,  does  not  wish  us  to  suffer  ? 
A.  No :  he  wishes  us  to  learn  the  right  way,  and  es- 
cape all  evil. 


VII. 
SALVATION. 

1.  Q.  What  is  salvation  ? 

A.  It  is  right  relation  to  God  and  man. 

2.  Q.  What  have  the  "Orthodox"  Churches  taught 
about  man  ? 

A.  That  he  was  lost  and  ruined,  under  the  curse  and 
wrath  of  God,  and  doomed  to  an  endless  hell. 

3.  Q.  How  have  they  said  he  came  to  be  so  ? 
A.  As  the  result  of  Adam's  sin. 

4.  Q.  How? 

A.  They  have  said  God  arranged  things  so  that  the 
whole  race  is  born  depraved  and  lost. 

5.  Q.  What  is  the  story  ? 

A.  The  story  of  Adam  and  Eve,  created  perfect  and 
placed  in  Eden.  When  tempted  by  Satan,  they  fell ; 
and  so  all  their  children  are  born  fallen  and  wicked. 

6.  Q.  What  have  they  taught  that  God  did  .? 

A.  As  the  years  went  by,  he  chose  one  little 
people  to  teach  and  train  into  preparation  for  the 
coming  of  his  Son,  who  was  to  be  the  Saviour  of  those 
who  accepted  him. 

7.  Q.  What  then  .? 

A.  All  the  rest  of  the  world  was  left  in  darkness  and 
death  for  4,000  years. 


48 

8.  Q.  Then  what  ? 

A.  He  sent  his  Son,  the  second  person  of  the  trin- 
ity, to  be  born  of  a  virgin,  to  suffer  and  die. 

9.  Q.  What  are  some  of  the  otiier  "  Orthodox " 
teachings  ? 

A.  A  miraculous  and  infallible  revelation  ;  that  Jesus 
was  God ;  that  the  Church  was  made  up  of  those  only 
who  accepted  their  teachings ;  that  those  who  did 
accept  them  went  to  heaven  at  death,  and  those  who 
did  not  went  to  hell. 

10.  Q.  Which  is  the  most  important  of  these  doc- 
trines ? 

A.  The  Fall  of  Man;  for,  but  for  that,  the  rest 
would   never  have  existed. 

11.  Q.  What  do  we  believe  to-day  as  to  these 
things  ? 

A.  We  do.  not  believe  only,  we  know  that  there 
never  was  any  fall  of  man. 

12.  Q.  What,  then,  becomes  of  the  rest  of  these 
doctrines  ? 

A.  There  is  no  need  of  them. 

13.  Q.  Did  the  early  Jews  believe  them  .'' 

A.  No :  Eden  is  first  mentioned  in  Ezek.  xxviii. 
13-16.  Its  origin  is  probably  Babylonian,  and  its 
date  not  far  from  570  b.c. 

14.  Q.  Did  Jesus  himself  believe  them  ? 
A.  No  :  he  never  taught  any  of  them. 

15.  Q.  Did  he  not  say  that  God  was  his  father? 

A.  Yes ;  and  he  also  said  that  God  was  the  father  of 
all  men. 


49 

1 6.  Q.  What  do  we  now  know  about  man  ? 

A.  That  he  has  developed  from  lower  forms  of  life ; 
has  been  on  earth  200,000  or  300,000  years;  and  has 
never  fallen. 

17.  Q.  Does  he  need  to  be  saved,  then  ? 

A.  No  :  not  in  the  sense  that  he  is  under  God's 
wrath  and  is  doomed  to  hell. 

18.  Q.  What  does  he  need  .? 

A.  He  needs  to  be  educated  and  trained,  taught 
how  to  live. 

19.  Q.  Is  there  no  hell,  then  ? 

A.  Only  the  hell  of  suffering,  in  this  world  or  any 
other,  that  is  caused  by  doing  wrong. 

20.  Q.  What  is  there,  then,  to  be  saved  from  ? 
A.  Ignorance  and  passion  and  selfishness. 

21.  Q.  Will  this  lead  us  to  heaven  ? 

A.  Being  delivered  from  these  will  be  heaven. 

22.  Q.  Can  a  wicked  person  enter  heaven? 

A.  No :  no    more    than    a   broken    piano  can  make 

music. 

23.  Q.  Is  heaven  a  place,  then  1 

A.  There  may  be  many  places  called  heaven  ;  but 
essentially  it  is  in  the  soul.  Being  in  a  fine  house 
does  not  make  a  miserable  child  happy. 

24.  Q.  What  is  salvation,  then  ? 
A.  It  is  right  character. 

25.  Q.  But  if  one  has  been  leading  a  wrong  life, 
what  should  he  do  l 

A.  Stop  doing  wrong  and  begin  to  do  right. 


50 

26.  Q.  Will  God  forgive  our  wrong-doing? 
A.  In  one  sense,  yes  ;  in  another,  no. 

27.  Q.  How  is  this  ? 

A.  We  may  become  reconciled  to  God,  but  that  does 
not  wipe  out  the  results  of  our  wrong  actions  ? 

28.  Q.  What  can  we  do  about  that  ? 

A.  So  far  as  possible,  we  should  repair  the  wrong  we 
have  done. 

29.  Q.  Why.? 

A,  Because,  if  I  have  injured  another,  asking  God 
to  forgive  me  is  not  enough.  I  must,  if  I  can,  undo 
the  wrong. 

30.  Q.  Can  one  be  saved  alone  ? 
A.  No. 

31.  Q.  Why  not? 

A.  Because  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  one  de- 
pend on  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  all. 

32.  Q.  How  so? 

A.  One  who  loves  his  fellow-men  can  never  be  per- 
fectly happy  so  long  as  evil  and  suffering  exist. 


VIII. 
CHURCH. 

1.  Q.  What  is  the  Church? 

A.  It  is  the  Greek  iKKk-qfria.^  a  congregation. 

2.  Q.  How  old  is  the  Church  .? 

A,  It  was  organized  immediately  after  the  death  of 
Jesus. 

3.  Q.  Did  the  Jews  have  anything  like  churches  ? 

A.  Yes :  the  synagogues.  There  was  one  in  every 
town ;  and,  in  the  large  cities,  many  of  them. 

4.  Q.  What  did  they  do  in  them  t 

A.  They  read  and  explained  the  law. 

5.  Q.  Are  they  related  in  any  way  to  the  churches  ? 
A.  Yes :  the  churches  were  copied  from   them,  and 

but  for  them  might  not  have  existed. 

6.  Q.  What  were  the  churches  ? 

A.  Voluntary  associations  of  men  and  women  to 
study,  teach,  and  practise  Christianity. 

7.  Q.  Were  there  at  first  any  bishops,  or  rulers.? 

A.  No :  only  the  apostles  were  naturally  looked  up 
to  and  followed. 

8.  (2-  How  did  the  churches  grow  and  change  ? 

A.  As  they  multiplied,  they  naturally  fell  into  groups 
with  overseers,  who  came  to  be  called  presbyters,  or 
elders,  and  then  bishops. 


9-    Q.  What  does  bishop  mean  ? 
A.  Only  an  overseer. 

10.  Q.  How  did  the  Catholic  Church  rise  .? 

A.  After  the  Roman  empire  became  Christian,  the 
bishops  of  Rome  (the  capital)  naturally  had  more 
power  than  the  others. 

11.  Q.  When  did  the  Roman  empire  become  Chris- 
tian ? 

A.  Early  in  the  fourth  century,  under  the  Emperor 
Constantine. 

12.  Q.  Was  he  a  good  man? 
A.  No. 

13.  Q.  Why,  then,  did  he  call  himself  a  Christian  .? 
A.  So  many  of  his  subjects  had  become  Christians 

that  it  was  policy  for  him  to  do  so. 

14.  Q.  How  far  did  the  Romish  Church  spread  .'* 
A.   Nearly  over  the  civilized  world. 

15-    Q'  Who  was  the  head  of  the  Church  > 
A.  The  Pope,  so  named  Irom  a  Latin  word  meaning 
Father. 

16.  Q.  Did  the  Church  keep  to  the  simple  life  and 
teaching  of  Jesus  ? 

A.  No  :  it  became  a  great  empire,  with  the  Pope  as 
prince.     He  claimed  to  be  God's  vicegerent  on  earth. 

17.  Q.  Were  people  free  to  think  and  study.? 

A.  No :  all  heretics  were  persecuted  and  punished. 

18.  Q.  Who  was  a  heretic .? 

A.  Any  one  who  refused  to  accept  any  of  the  Church's 
teaching. 

19.  Q.  How  long  did  the  Church  thus  rule  Europe  } 
A.  Until  the  sixteenth  century. 


S3 

20.  Q.  What  happened  then  ? 

A.  What  is  called  the  Reformation. 

21.  Q.  Who  led  in  this? 
A.  A  monk  named  Luther. 

22.  Q.  What  was  the  result  ? 

A.  A  large  falling  away  from  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  growth  of  the  many  sects  called  Protestant. 

23.  Q.  Why  were  they  called  Protestants  ? 

A.  Because  at  the  Second  Diet  of  Spire  the  mi- 
nority, in  behalf  of  religious  liberty,  protested  against 
the  action  of  the  majority. 

24.  Q.  What  are  the  principal  Protestant  Churches.? 
A.  Lutherans  in  Germany,  the  Church   of  England 

in  England,  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  and  America,  the 
Congregationalists,  Baptists,  Methodists,  etc. 

25.  Q.  What  other  name  have  all  these  Churches? 
A.  They  are  called  "Orthodox." 

26.  Q.  What  does  "  Orthodox  "  mean  ? 

A.  It  is  from  a  Greek  word  (ppOoSoioq),  and  means 
the  true  doctrine. 

27.  Q.  What  are  others  called  ? 
A.  Heretics. 

28.  Q.  What  does  this  mean  ? 

A.  It  is  from  a  Greek  word,  and  means  the  act  of 
choosing.  So  a  heretic  is  one  who  thinks  freely,— 
chooses  his  belief. 

29.  Q.  Are  we  Unitarians  heretics  ? 

A.  Yes,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  "Orthodox." 
But  we  believe  we  are  orthodox,  in  the  true  meaning  of 
the  word,  because  we  think  we  hold  and  teach  the  true 
doctrine. 


54 

30.  Q.  How  do  the  orthodox  churches  differ  among 
themselves  ? 

A.  Chiefly  as  to  ceremonies  and  forms  of  govern- 
ment. 

31.  Q.  What  ceremonies  and  forms  of  government 
may  Unitarians  have  ? 

A.  Any  they  please.  Their  forms  of  church  govern- 
ment, however,  are  generally  congregational  or  dem- 
ocratic. 

32.  Q.  How  old  is  Unitarianism  ? 

A.  The  Jews  were  Unitarian.  So  were  Jesus  and 
the  apostles. 

33'    Q'  What  do  we  mean  by  that  ? 

A.  That  they  believed  in  the  unity  of  God,  and  not 
in  the  trinity.  We  do  not  mean  that  they  held  all  our 
present  beliefs. 

34.  Q.  How  old  is  modern  Unitarianism  .'' 

A.  There  were  many  Unitarians  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  In  Hungary  there  has  been  a  Unitarian 
church  ever  since  that  time. 

35.  Q.  When  did  the  most  modern  movement  of 
Unitarianism   begin  .'' 

A.  In  England  and  America,  late  in  the  eighteenth 
centur}'. 

36.  Q.  Who  was  the  first  Unitarian  preacher  in 
England  ? 

A.  Rev.  Dr.  Lindsey.  Milton,  Newton,  Locke,  and 
Priestley  were  Unitarians. 

37'    Q-  Who  was  the  first  Unitarian  in  America  ? 

A.  Rev.  Dr.  James  Freeman,  of  King's  Chapel. 
Adams,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  others,  perhaps  in- 
cluding Washington,  were  practically  Unitarians. 


55 

38.  Q.  Who  have  been  our  most  famous  leaders  in 
this  country  ? 

A.  Channing  and  Parker. 

39.  Q,  What  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  Uni- 
tarianism  ? 

A,  Freedom  to  study  and  believe  what  seems  rea- 
sonable. 

40.  Q.  What  are  our  principal  beliefs  ? 

A,  In  the  oneness  of  God  as  opposed  to  the  trinity, 
in  his  perfect  goodness,  in  the  ascent  of  man  as  op- 
posed to  the  fall,  in  the  humanity  of  Jesus  as  opposed 
to  his  deity,  in  the  Bible  as  a  natural  as  opposed  to  a 
supernatural  book,  in  man's  salvation  through  charac- 
ter as  opposed  to  salvation  by  creed  or  sacrament,  in 
the  final  salvation  of  all  men  by  their  being  led  to  see 
and  obey  the  truth  as  opposed  to  an  endless  hell. 

41.  Q.  Ought  people  to  belong  to  the  Church  t 

A.  Yes,  to  the  best  Church  known,  because  the 
Church  is  an  organization  to  help  people  to  find  and 
live  out  the  truth. 

42.  Q.  Is  there  any  one  true  Church.? 

A.  No :  that  Church  is  the  best  which  finds  and 
practises  the  most  truth. 

43.  Q.  Why  are  we  Unitarians  'i 

A.  Because  Unitarian  doctrines  seem  to  us  most 
nearly  true,  and  because  we  have  freedom  to  study 
and  find  new  truth. 

44.  Q.  Is  it  wrong  to  leave  the  Unitarian  Church 
for  the  older  Churches  ? 

A.  We  believe  it  is. 


S6 

45.  Q.  Why?    ^ 

A.  Because  it  is  not  following  God,  who  is  leading 
the  world  on  to  new  and  higher  truth. 

46.  Q.  Is  not  the  majority  more  likely  to  be  right? 
A.  No :  in  education,  in  science,  in  philanthropy,  it 

is  always  the  few  who   lead  ;  as  in  an  army  the  van- 
guard is  always  smaller  than  the  main  body. 

47.  Q.  What,  then,  should  we  chiefly  care  for.? 

A.  To  have  the  most  truth,  and  help  to  lead  and  lift 
the  world.  Jesus  and  all  the  great  leaders  of  the  past 
were  in  the  minority. 


IX. 
DUTY. 

1.  Q.  What  is  duty? 

A.  It  is  what  one  owes  or  ought  to  do. 

2.  Q.  What  ought  one  to  do  ? 

A.  All  that  is  right,  and  nothing  that  is  wrong. 

3.  Q,  What  does  right  mean  ? 

A.  That  which  is  according  to  an  accepted  rule  or 
standard  .? 

4.  Q.  What  is  this  rule  or  standard .? 

A.  There  have  been  a  good  many  arbitrary  and 
mistaken  ones. 

5.  Q.  What  are  some  of  these  .? 

A.  The  Church  of  Rome  says  her  doctrines ;  the 
Protestants  say  the  Bible.  Different  peoples  and  dif- 
ferent stages  of  civilization  have  had  different  ideas. 

6.  Q.  Give  another  illustration. 

A.  Sometimes  society  has  its  notions  of  what  is 
proper,  and  will  forgive  real  wrongs  sooner  than  dis- 
regard of  its  rules. 

7.  Q.  Is  there  a  real  rule  ? 
A.  Yes. 

8.  Q.  What  is  it .? 

A.  It  is  found  in  the  word  "  life." 


S8 

9.  (2-  How  so  ? 

A.  That  which  conduces  to  the  life  and  well-being 
of  mankind  is  right. 

10.  Q.  What  is  wrong,  then? 

A.  That   which   injures  and   tends   to    destroy  well- 
being  and  life. 

11.  Q.  What   have   people   agreed   to  call  vices  and 
wrongs .'' 

A.  Those  things  which  they  have  learned  by  experi- 
ence to  think  injurious. 

12.  Q.  Have  they  always  had  correct  ideas  of  what 
was  right  and  wrong .? 

A.  No :   the    principle    has    always    been  the  same ; 
but  men's  ideas  about  it  have  not. 

13.  Q.  Are  the  same  actions  always  right  or  always 
wrong  ? 

A.  No  :    because    circumstances     may    change     the 
effect  of  them. 

14.  Q.  How  have  people  found  out  what  was  right 
and  wrong.'' 

A.  By   experience ;    just    as    they    have    discovered 
what  is  good  to  eat  and  what  is  poison. 

15.  Q.  Is  right  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God  .^ 
A.  Always. 

16.  Q.  Does  that  will  make  right .'' 

A.  No  :  right  is  eternal.     No  power  can  change  it. 

17.  Q.  Are  all  God's  laws  right  ? 

A.  Yes ;  for  they  are  the  conditions  of  life  and  well- 
being. 

18.  Q.  What  is  the  penalty  of  wrong.? 
A.  Suffering  and  death. 


59 

19-    Q.  Could  God  change  this  ? 

A.  No :  no  more  than  he  could  make  a  person  sick 
and  well  at  the  same  time. 

20.  Q.  Did  the  world  need  a  supernatural  revela- 
tion to  teach  it  what  was  right  ? 

A.  No  :  it  learned  by  experience. 

21.  Q.  Have  nations  outside  of  the  Hebrew  and 
Christian  known  the  right  ? 

A.  Yes :  equally  civilized  people  have  had  very 
much  the  same  ideas  of  right  and  wrong. 

22.  Q.  What  does  this  mean  1 

A.  It  means  that  they  have  had  about  the  same  ex- 
periences and  so  have  learned  about  the  same  things. 

23.  Q.  Does  it  ever  pay  to  do  wrong? 
A.  No :  it  is  always  foolish. 

24.  Q.  Why  do  people,  then,  do  wrong.? 

A.  Sometimes  from  ignorance ;  sometimes  under 
the  influence  of  passion,  such  as  hatred  or  envy ;  some- 
times for  what  promises  a  present  pleasure  and  in  spite 
of  after  consequences. 

25.  Q.  Why  ought  I  to  do  right  toward  others? 
A.  Because  I  have  no  right  to  injure  them. 

26.  Q.  Ought  I  to  do  right  for  my  own  sake  ? 

A.  Yes :  if  I  care  for  well-being  and  life  ;  and,  be- 
sides, one  can  never  do  a  wrong  to  himself  without 
injuring  somebody  else. 

27.  Q.  Is  there  any  necessary  wrong  in  the  world? 
A.  No  :  except  in  the  sense  that  it  is  the  necessary 

result  of  ignorance,  passion,  and  selfishness. 


6o 

28.  Q.  How  can  the  world  then  get  rid  of  wrong? 
A.  By  learning  what  is  right,  and  doing  it. 

29.  Q.  Is  it  enough  to  teach  people  what  is  right  ? 
A.  No  :  they  must  learn  to  love  it. 

30.  Q.  Why? 

A,  Because  love  never  willingly  injures  any  one. 

31.  Q.  Is  love  alone  enough? 

A.  No :  one   must  know  the  way  and  then  love  to 
walk  in  it-     So  knowledge  and  love  both  are  needed. 


X. 
DEATH    AND    AFTER. 

1.  Q.  What  is  death  ? 

A.  It  is  the  ceasing  of  our  bodily  Ufe. 

2.  Q.  Is  it  a  punishment  for  sin  ? 

A.  No :  it  existed  among  the  lower  animals  before 
there  were  any  men  to  do  wrong. 

3.  Q.  Why  did  it  come  into  the  world  } 

A.  It  is  the  law  of  all  organized  creatures  that  they 
must  die  as  well  as  be  born. 

4.  Q.  Is  it  an  evil .'' 

A.  No :  as  things  are  in  this  world,  it  would  be 
much  worse  if  there  were  no  death. 

5.  Q.  Does  it  take  away  from  the  world's  happiness  ? 
A.  No  :  there  is  much  more  happiness  with  it. 

6.  Q.  How  is  this  ? 

A.  If  there  were  no  death,  the  world  would  soon  be 
crowded  with  all  sorts  of  creatures  as  well  as  with  men. 

7.  Q.  Then  what  ? 

A.  No  more  could  be  born,  and  so  no  more  could 
experience  the  joy  of  living.  Life  is  like  a  feast.  If 
the  first  tableful  sat  there  forever,  no  more  could  come. 

8.  Q.  What  makes  people  dread  death  } 

A.  Largely  the  old  teachings  about  the  next  world. 

9.  Q.  What  else.? 

A.  The  sickness  and  pain  connected  with  it. 


62 

10.  Q.  Anything  else  ? 

A.  Yes  :  the  separation  from  friends. 

11.  Q.  Are  these  any  real  part  of  dying.? 

A.  No  :  the  fears  of  the  future  are  chiefly  imaginary. 
The  pain  and  illness  need  not  exist  when  people  learn 
to  live  rightly ;  and  the  separation  is  oniy  for  a  little 
while. 

12.  Q.  What  ought  death,  then,  to  be.? 

A.  A  happy  rebirth  into  another  life  when  through 
with  this. 

13.  Q.  Ought  so  many  people  to  die  so  soon  ? 

A.  No :  it  is  because  we  do  not  know  or  keep  the 
laws  of  health. 

14.  Q.  Can  we  hope  that  so  much  illness,  pain,  and 
early  dying  may  be  outgrown  1 

A.  We  may. 

15.  Q.  Then  what  will  dying  be  } 

A.  Like  going  to  sleep  when  one  has  grown  tired. 

16.  Q.  Is  death  the  end  .? 

A.  No :    we  believe  it  is  only  another  kind  of  birth. 

17.  Q.  Does  death  change  one's  character .? 
A.  No  :  no  more  than  a  night's  sleep  does. 

18.  Q.  Are  there  special  places  called  heaven  and 
hell? 

A.  No  :  each  soul  is  happy  or  unhappy  according  to 
character. 

19.  Q.  Can  one  find  happiness  after  death  except 
by  being  and  doing  right  1 

A.  No  :  this  is  the  only  way. 


63 

2  0.    Q.  Where  do  those  who  die,  go  ? 
A.  Probably  not  far  away. 

2  1.    Q.  Is  there  some  special  planet  for  their  home? 

A.  Probably  not.  The  spiritual  world  may  be  very 
near  us ;  and  perhaps  its  inhabitants  can  go  from  place 
to  place  as  duty  or  pleasure  lead. 

2  2.    Q.  Do  spirits  have  forms  or  bodies  ? 
A.  Probably :  only  of  a  kind  that  we  know  little  or 
nothing  of  as  yet. 

23.  Q.  Why  do  we  not  know  ? 

A.  Knowledge  is  limited  by  experience ;  and  as  yet 
we  have  had  no  experience  to  teach  us  these  things. 

24.  Q,  What  do  these  spiritual  beings  do  ? 

A.  Study  and  live  their  own  lives  as  we  do  here. 
They  may  also  serve,  influence,  and  help  us  in  many 
ways,  though  we  do  not  see  them. 

25.  Q.  Ought  we  to  dread  dying,  then  ? 

^.  No  :  after  we  have  learned  what  earth  has  to  teach 
us,  we  ought  to  anticipate  going  on  and  up  to  this 
higher  life. 

26.  Q.  W^hom  shall  we  find  there  .? 

A.  All  the  great  and  noble  of  all  past  ages.  Also, 
our  own  loved  ones  who  have  gone. 

27.  Q.  Death,  then,  is  not  a  sign  of  God's  anger 
with  us? 

A.  No  :  it  is  one  of  God's  gifts  to  his  children. 

28.  Q.  Have  we,  then,  nothing  to  fear  in  dying? 

A.  Only  the  natural  consequences  of  our  actions,  the 
same  as  here. 


64 

29.  Q.  Will   it  be  better  with  some  when  they  die 
than  with  others  ? 

A.  Yes :  it  will   be   best   for  those  who  have  lived 
best  here. 

30.  Q.  Why? 

A.  Just  as  it  is  befet,  on  going  out  into  life,  for  that 
boy  or  girl  who  has  made  the  best  preparation  for  it. 

31.  Q.  What,  then,  is  the  chief  end  of  man  ? 

A.  To  learn  to  live  rightly ;  for  this  means  good  in 
this  world  and  in  all  worlds. 


BOOKS    OF    REFERENCE. 


RELIGION. 

Clodd's  "Childhood  of  Religions." 
Everett's  "Religions  before  Christianity."' 
Knappe»t's  "  The  Religion  of  Israel." 
Spencer's  "  Principles  of  Sociology,"  Vol.  1. 
Lang's  "  Myth,  Ritual,  and  Religion," 
Max  Muller's  "Origin  and  Growth  (jf  Religion.'' 
i.'LARKE's  "  Ten  Great  Religions." 
Clarke's  "  Manual  of  Unitarian  Belief." 
Gannett's  "The  Chosen  Nation." 
Arnold's  "Literature  and  Dogma." 
Toy's  "History  of  the  Religion  of  Israel." 
Parker's  "  Discour.-e  of  Religion." 
AkMSTRONG's  "Outline  Lessons  in  Religion." 

GOD. 

jL'lodd's  "Childhood  of  the  World.'' 

FiSKE's  "The  Idea  of  God.". 

Muller's  "Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion." 

Abbot's  "Scientific  Theism." 

Savage's  "  Beliet  in  God." 

Calthrop's  "The  Fulness  of  God,"  in  vol.  "Show  us  the 

Father." 
Arnold's  "God  and  the  Liible." 

MAN. 

Clodd's  "  Childhood  of  the  \Vorld." 
Peschel's  "The  Races  of  Man." 
Fiske's  '  The  Destiny  of  Man." 
Lubbock's  "  Antiquity  of  Man." 
Hittel's  "  History  of  Culture." 
.Lesley's  "Man's  Origin  and  Destiny." 


66 

Tylor's  "Primitive  Culture." 
Powell's  "  Our  Heredity  from  God.'^ 
Morgan's  "Ancient  Society." 

BIBLE. 

Sunderland's  "  What  is  the  Bible  ?  " 

Chadwick's  "The  Bible  of  To-day." 

Davidson's  "  Introduction." 

Smith's  "  Bible  in  the  Jewish  Church.' 

Carpenter's  "  The  Synoptic  Gospels.  ' 

OoRT  and  HoOKYAs's  "  Bible  for  Learners.'' 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  art.  Gospels. 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  art.  Bible. 

Heber  Newton's  "  Right  and  Wrong  Uses  of  tne  Bible. 

Savage's  "  Beliefs  about  the  Bible." 

Hall's  "  First  Lessons  on  the  Bible." 

Carpenter's  "Life  in  Palestine." 

JESUS. 

Chadwick's  "  The  Man  Jesus." 
Clodd's  "Jesus  of  Nazareth." 
Brown's  "  Life  of  Jesus." 
Keim's  "Jesus  of  Nazara." 
Kenan's  "  Life  of  Jesus." 
Strauss's  "  New  Life  of  Jesus." 
Savage's  "  Talks  about  Jesus." 
Gannett's  "The  Childhood  of  Jesus." 
Crooker's  "Jesus  Brought  Back." 
Hughes's  "  Manliness  of  Jesus." 

CHURCH. 

Allen's  "Christian  History." 
Hall's  "  Orthodoxy  and  Heresy." 

"  The  Evolution  of  Christianity." 

Martineau's  "  Seat  of  Authority  in  ReligiOL." 
Bartol's  "  Church  and  Congregation." 

SALVATION. 

Jesus,  in  all  his  Gospel  teachings. 
Clarke's  "Self-culture." 


^7 

Channing's  "  Perfect  Life." 
Hedge's  "  Ways  of  the  Spirit." 
Emerson's  "  Conduct  of  Life." 

EVIL   AND    DEVIL. 

Conway's  "  Demonology  and  Devil-lore." 
Dor.man's  "Origin  of  Primitive  Superstitions.'' 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  art.  Devil. 

DUTY. 

Spencer's  "  Data  of  Ethics." 
Lecky's  "  History  of  European  Morals." 
Marcus  Aurelius. 
-Epictetus. 
Seneca. 

Smiles's  Works. 

Mrs.  Wells's  "  Rights  and  Duties." 
Dole's  "The  Citizen  and  the  Neighbor." 
Savage's  "  Morals  of  Evolution." 
Everett's  "  Poetry,  Comedy  and  Duty  " 

DEATH    AND    AFTER. 

Alger's  '•  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life 
Fiske's  "Unseen  World." 
Sears's  "  Athanasia,"/:7j-j/w. 


Stockton,  C_a|jf. 


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